Venus Space Station
Venus is the second largest rocky planet after Earth. If Venus will have similar climate patterns, its Population Limit will be the second in the Solar System after Earth. However, if we manage to make Venus a Superhabitable planet, it could host much more people. Background During the terraforming processes, Venus will require large amounts of materials to be shipped from asteroids and from the Kuiper Belt. In addition, a lot of equipment will need to be brought from Earth. And later, when the economy of Venus will start to develop, many goods will be shipped to and from other planets. In addition to all this, people will need to travel inside the Solar System. Interplanetary Trade Routes will exist around Venus, based on existing flight windows. However, planets are not always properly aligned and flight windows occur at 143 to 584 Earth days. Also, it is less expensive per amount of cargo or per passenger to send a large ship instead of sending many small ships. Because of this, it is more feasible to send a single large ship during flight windows. Given the amount of goods and the number of people that will need to be ferried, such ships will be massive, over 2 km long. One can realize that such a massive spaceship will not be able to land on the surface of a planet. Instead, it will be docked at an orbiting space station. From there, small ships will carry all cargo and all passengers to the planet. Because of this, an orbital space station for Venus is mandatory. In the beginning, because Venus has a too corrosive atmosphere, it will be very hard for a base to be established on the surface. Instead, scientists will prefer to build aTerraforming Orbital Station. From there, they will conduct research operations. then, when terraforming will start, work on the ground will be done mostly with robots, that can resist to the harsh environment. A Terraforming Plant on the surface could be built only when conditions will allow. Then, the terraforming orbital station will be upgraded to handle all the passenger and cargo traffic. The Base The space environment around Venus is different then the space environment surrounding Earth. First of all, Venus has no magnetosphere, only an induced magnetic field, too weak to stop the solar wind. Second, Venus does not host a Van Allen radiation belt. Venus is closer to the Sun then Earth, but still not too close. The base will require some shielding against the solar wind, against radiation and to decrease the temperature. Mercury Space Station needed a large shield oriented towards the Sun, to reflect the light and keep the base in shadow. For Venus, the shield needs to be smaller and to allow some light to pass through. Venus has a more circular orbit. For a satellite, stable orbits do exist for a long period of time. The station will not require an engine to adjust its orbit for a long time. Still, it will be required to change its orientation, so that the shield will always be oriented towards the Sun. This can be achieved very easy with reaction wheels and ion engines. Structure One particular thing for Venus orbital station is that it will be the oldest among the Solar System. Terraforming of Venus will be impossible without it, since a Terraforming Plant will not survive for long in the harsh environment on the surface. Because of this, the central part will become a museum and will be a protected world heritage site. Since Venus has the second Population Limit in the Solar System after Earth, there will be more goods shipped through the space station then in case of most other space stations. The Venus station will need large docking space, large storage space, conditions to host many passengers and a large enough source of energy. Because Venus is close enough to the Sun, the source of energy will be solar. Solar panels, placed on the shield facing the Sun or on sideways, will provide all the power needed. Still, there will be moments when the planet will eclipse the Sun. For those moments, energy will be stored in batteries. When a ship arrives, it will be connected to a base through a tube, that will allow passengers and personnel to pass. People will go to a customs processing area. Then, they will go to a central square, waiting for landing ships to take them to the planet. People will have to wait a few hours on the base. In some rare cases, they might need to wait a few Earth days. For this, the station must have some places for entertainment, like some coffee-bars. A mall and a few restaurants will be needed, even a hotel. A medical service center will be required too. The station will be crowded around flight windows and will be empty in the remaining time. It is questionable if growing food on the base will be feasible. Since Venus will have enough land for farming, it sounds more likely that food, oxygen and drinkable water will be shipped from the planet, while carbon dioxide and human dejections will be sent back. Still, the base can have without major costs a water recycling facility and an air cleaner that will extract carbon dioxide and insert oxygen. For cargo ships, things are a bit more different. Most cargo will be shipped in containers, which is very easy. Containers will be uploaded and downloaded with automated robotic arms. Some containers require to be connected to electricity or stored at certain temperatures. This can be done easily. In some cases, the cargo will consist of large mineral ores, which are more difficult to handle without gravity. The most important aspect is that a single piece of rock lost into space becomes space debris that might impact another ship. Anything that is not inside a container must be handled with care. Fluids (both liquids and pressurized gasses) can be shipped at the station. They will be deposited in large fluid tanks. Spaceport The base will need to have a maintenance center, to check and repair ships when needed. Also, from the surface, there will be maintenance ships that will bring to the station fuel for interplanetary ships, oxygen, food and anything that is needed. There will be two kinds of ships: local and interplanetary. Local ships will ferry between the planet and the station. This can be done daily, flight routes exist. A few other local ships can link the station with other small stations or artificial satellites. The interplanetary ships, which are larger, will ferry between Venus space station and other planets. Additional smaller ships will connect Venus with some asteroids, where industrial corporations will have mines or manufacturing centers. Flight Windows The flight windows for Venus are as follows: Mercury - Venus: 143 Earth days Venus - Earth: 584 Earth days (1 year and 219 days) Venus - Mars: 337 Earth days Venus - Ceres: 260 Earth days Venus - Jupiter: 237 Earth days Venus - Saturn: 230 Earth days Venus - Uranus: 227 Earth days Venus - Neptune: 226 Earth days. Flight windows listed here are calculated based on perfect alignments between two planets. Additional flight windows are possible by using a gravity assist or deep space maneuvers. As one can see, the most rare flight windows are just the most important: Venus - Earth and Venus - Mars. There will be 12.02 ships landing during an Earth year, that is, one landing at every 30 Earth days. One landing or departure will occur at an average of 15 Earth days. Basically, only Mercury station has more flight windows. In addition to the flight windows listed above, there will be others, linking Venus with several asteroids, both from the Asteroid Belt and from the surrounding space. Delta-v The delta-v shows energy requirements to reach destination. For destinations around Venus, the values are as follows: Venus station - surface: 7.965 (without atmospheric interferences) For flights towards other stations, delta-v is calculated below: Mercury Space Station – Venus Station 13.987 Venus station – Earth Space Station 8.609 Venus station – Mars Phobos 12.953 Venus station – Ceres Space Station 16.969 Venus station – Jupiter Himalia 21.184 Venus station – Saturn Helene 24.872 Venus station – Uranus Perdita 23.786 Venus station – Neptune Halimede 19.808 Venus station – Pluto Styx 19.361 Venus station – Eris low orbit 19.057 Venus station – Sedna low orbit 17.438 Venus station – Venus orbit (100 km) 5.978 Venus station – Venus surface 7.377 For comparison, an Earth surface - Moon surface flight will require a delta-v of 14.466. Delta-v requirements for missions from Venus are a bit higher then for Earth. However, these values can be significantly reduced if we use gravity assists from planets on the way. An Earth flyby can send a ship beyond the orbit of Mars. In the same way, a ship coming from the outer Solar System can use Earth to slow down, making a Venus orbit insertion more easy. Currently, a Venus liftoff requires a delta-v of 27, because of atmosphere friction. If Venus will be terraformed, the value can be reduced significantly, to 9. Landing on Venus will take advantage of a parachute. Strategic Importance Most people will reach Venus through the space station. Also, nearly all freight will arrive through the space station. It will be very important to maintain a good control at the station, to avoid illegal contraband and to prevent terrorists from reaching Venus. Category:Technology